Escapes & Releases – Inherently Wild

Captive Killer Whales that Escaped or were Released!

Of 27 killer whales , 8 escaped their holding pens and 19 were released.

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Name	Sex	Origin	Capture Date	Holding Area	Escaped / Released	Time in Captivity
Juliet / C15	N/A	Warrior Cove, Namu, British Columbia, Canada	1965/6/23	Warrior Cove, British Columbia	Escaped 1965/6/25	2 Days
No name	F	Pacific Northwest, North America	1966/1/5	Salish Sea	Escaped 1966/1/9	4 days
Hyak	M	Garden Bay, Pender Harbor, British Columbia, Canada	1968/2/21	Pender Harbor, British Columbia, Canada	Released 1969/2/14	359 days (11 months, 24 days)
Irving / Skookum Cecil	M	Garden Bay, Pender Harbor, British Columbia, Canada	1968/4/26	Pender Harbor, British Columbia, Canada	Escaped 1968/8/26	122 days (4 months)
Ishmael	M	Yukon Harbor, Bainbridge Island, Washington State, USA	1968/10/5	US Navy, Hawaii	Escaped 1971/2/19	867 days (2 years, 4 months, 14 days)
Charlie Chin / T1 / M1	M	Pedder Bay, British Columbia, Canada	1970/3/1	Pedder Bay, British Columbia, Canada	Escaped 1970/10/27	240 days (7 months, 26 days)
Pointednose Cow / T2 / M2	F	Pedder Bay, British Columbia, Canada	1970/3/1	Pedder Bay, British Columbia, Canada	Escaped 1970/10/27	240 days (7 months, 26 days)
Taku / K1	M	Pedder Bay, British Columbia, Canada	1973/8	Pedder Bay, British Columbia, Canada	Released 1973/10	61 days (2 months)
T13 / O5	F	Budd Inlet, Washington State, USA	1976/3/7	Budd Inlet, Washington State, USA	Released 1976/4/26	50 days (1 month, 19 days)
T14 / O4	M	Budd Inlet, Washington State, USA	1976/3/7	Budd Inlet, Washington State, USA	Released 1976/4/26	50 days (1 month, 19 days)
No name	M	Iceland	1978/11	Saedyrasafnid, Iceland	Released 1979/2/12	92 days (3 months)
No name	N/A	Iceland	1978/11	Saedyrasafnid, Iceland	Released 1979/2/12	92 days (3 months)
No name	N/A	Iceland	1978/11	Saedyrasafnid, Iceland	Released 1979/2/12	92 days (3 months)
Keiko / Kago / Kego	M	Medallands Bugt, Iceland	1979/11	Taknes Bay, Norway	Released 2002/7/30	8307 days (22 years, 8 months, 29 days)
No name	N/A	Japan	1982/2	Taiji, Japan	Escaped 1982	Unknown
No name	N/A	Japan	1982/2	Taiji, Japan	Escaped 1982	Unknown
A73 / Springer	F	Seattle, Washington State, USA	2002/6/12	Manchester, Washington State, USA	Released 2002/7/14	32 days (1 month, 2 days)
No name	F	Russia	2010/7/20	Russian sea pen	Escaped 2010/8	12 days
Leha	M	Sea of Okhotsk, Russia	2018/8	Srednyaya Bay, Primorsky Krai, Russia	Released 2019/6/27	330 days (10 months, 26 days)
Vasilievna	F	Sea of Okhotsk, Russia	2018/8	Srednyaya Bay, Primorsky Krai, Russia	Released 2019/6/27	330 days (10 months, 26 days)
Alexandra	F	Sea of Okhotsk, Russia	2018/8	Srednyaya Bay, Primorsky Krai, Russia	Released 2019/7/16	349 days (11 months, 15 days)
Vitas	M	Sea of Okhotsk, Russia	2018/8	Srednyaya Bay, Primorsky Krai, Russia	Released 2019/7/16	349 days (11 months, 15 days)
Zina	F	Sea of Okhotsk, Russia	2018/8	Srednyaya Bay, Primorsky Krai, Russia	Released 2019/7/16	349 days (11 months, 15 days)
Gaika	F	Sea of Okhotsk, Russia	2018/8	Srednyaya Bay, Primorsky Krai, Russia	Released 2019/8/6	370 days (1 year, 5 days)
Tihon	M	Sea of Okhotsk, Russia	2018/8	Srednyaya Bay, Primorsky Krai, Russia	Released 2019/8/6	370 days (1 year, 5 days)
Zoya	F	Sea of Okhotsk, Russia	2018/8	Srednyaya Bay, Primorsky Krai, Russia	Released 2019/8/6	370 days (1 year, 5 days)
Harja / Kharya	F	Sea of Okhotsk, Russia	2018/8	Srednyaya Bay, Primorsky Krai, Russia	Released 2019/8/27	391 days (1 year, 26 days)
Forest	M	Sea of Okhotsk, Russia	2018/8	Srednyaya Bay, Primorsky Krai, Russia	Released 2019/8/27	391 days (1 year, 26 days)

Sources:
– Data collected by OrcaHome.de (discontinued) was used as baseline for this spreadsheet, particularly capture dates. One notable source is “Orca – The Whale Called Killer” by Erich Hoyt
– Capture date for Ishmael was found in a U.S Navy document regarding Project Deep Ops (found here).
– Time in captivity was calculated using a calculator. The end date was not included (otherwise this would’ve added a day) as the whales passed away before the 24 hour mark. Some capture dates and death dates lack an exact day or month due to insufficient historical data. In this case, 01 is used for an unknown day and January is used for an unknown month unless a season is specified, then the first month of the season is used.